Aarp Aiding Older Job Seekers

November 03, 1994|by THOMAS KUPPER, The Morning Call

Finding a good job can be difficult and frustrating at any age. Imagine looking for work for the first time as a widow who is in her late 50s or early 60s, needs money desperately and is too young for Social Security.

Or a man who has been laid off from his job before he wanted to retire, doesn't have a pension or any health benefits, but still has to pay off a mortgage and support himself and his wife.

Those are the kinds of people who come to the Senior Community Service Employment Program. Run by the American Association of Retired Persons, the employment center on the fifth floor of Bethlehem City Hall has jobs waiting for them.

"They find themselves in this bind," said AARP project director Jim Davis. "Sometimes they haven't even worked at all, and here they are trying to get a job at age 55. Usually they've lost their jobs, need income, and we fill that gap."

The center, in operation since 1977, places low-income people ages 55 and over in temporary posts -- typically with nonprofit agencies. Once they're in these jobs, the center helps and encourages them to find better-paying, permanent work.

It's an arrangement that Davis said benefits everyone. The temporary employers get free labor, because AARP pays the workers with money from the federal Department of Labor. The workers get work experience, training and $4.25 an hour.

The goal is to push them into the "unsubsidized labor market," Davis said. "This is not a retirement program. This is a temporary work assignment to give you training and help you find a job."

There's room for 97 people in the temporary positions, and 85 slots are filled now. The jobs include a kitchen aide with the Allentown Housing Authority, a maintenance man at the Allentown YMCA and a security guard at the Easton Area Senior Citizens Center.

Elizabeth Fisher works as a teaching aide at Bethlehem's Sayre Child Center. Like many of the people in the program, she says she heard about the AARP program from a friend, called the office and was quickly placed in a job.

Fisher, a lifelong resident of Bethlehem, retired a few years ago after working in a factory for 19 years. She worked off-and-on as a replacement cafeteria worker in the Bethlehem Area School District, but she wanted steady work to keep her busy and provide more income.

"I just need the extra income for odds and ends," she said, adding that she doesn't want to work more than the 27 hours she does now. "I have more free time now."

In her job, Fisher watches children at the child care center from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. five days a week. AARP gave her a couple of choices of where to work, and she took the child care position because she likes being with children, she said.

A few of the workers are placed in jobs at AARP's office. Marie J. Gawlik has handled secretarial tasks there for the last three years, coming in five days a week at 6:30 in the morning.

"It's beautiful for older people like me who can use the money," said the 70-year-old Gawlik, "and not only that but you get a feeling that you're accomplishing something."

Gawlik worked in the executive dining room at Bethlehem Steel Corp. for 32 years and retired in 1980. She recalls memorizing the orders of each of the 32 men she served, and having to make everything go smoothly because they had exactly one hour for lunch.

After retiring, she worked for 11 years as a cashier at Lehigh University's bookstore before joining the AARP program. At first, she filed books at the South Side branch of the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

After six months of that, Davis told her he needed help in the office and she started working there. She likes the early hours because she gets up early anyway, and it gives her time for reading and other hobbies.

The results of getting people into jobs outside the program are mixed. Last year, 51 percent of the people were placed, Davis said, mostly in jobs that paid $5 an hour to $10 an hour. Cleaning services hire a lot of the program's graduates.

A large number of the temporary positions in the program are clerical, like Gawlik's. Because many senior citizens lack the computer skills they need to do those jobs, the center offers one-on-one personal computer training at City Hall.

"Almost any job has to have some computer skills," Davis said. "The days of just being able to type are over."

As an incentive for businesses to hire the workers, AARP also offers to pay the worker's full salary for the first two weeks, with no requirement that the employer keep them after that. Davis said this allows the businesses to give workers a sort of tryout.

Another AARP program offers scholarships to women over age 50 who want to continue their education and who meet income guidelines. The national program will grant 15 to 20 scholarships next year, each worth $1,000 to $3,000.